Shopping PayPal or Google Checkout

After getting numerous requests from small business owners for the best solution for a DIY shoppping cart, I did a little further research about shopping carts on the two that were given to me by my internet resource and mentor, Chris Morgan of

I located some information that I feel will provide insight to my clients as well as others about ecommerce solutions and I wanted to share it.

You can use only PayPal on eBay, but should you check out Google’s new shopping method when doing other business online? Both services are secure, but PayPal offers more features, such as helping you shop around the world.

By Elsa Wenzel (July 17, 2006)


Since Google Checkout launched last month, many tongues wagged that it would slaughter PayPal. Yet these digital payment services are different beasts that cater to different needs. Both provide a secure way to shop, with policies that refund your money in case of fraud. Overall, however, we prefer the many features of the veteran service, PayPal.

Google Checkout simply serves as a holding place for your credit or debit card information. It allows you to log in to a single Google username to shop, while hiding your valuable data and e-mail address from merchants. If you’re selling stuff on a Web site, you can cut and paste some code that lets visitors shop via Google Checkout, which takes a small cut of your sales.

PayPal’s fine print is more complicated than Google Checkout’s, but PayPal offers a wider variety of services for shoppers and businesses–particularly small ones–to exchange funds. Only PayPal lets shoppers transfer money to or from bank accounts in addition to credit and debit cards, and you can use it to wire money to other people without requiring them to get a paid account. And PayPal is the only way to go if you’re shopping around the world. Your financial details remain hidden from stores, but sellers might see your e-mail address.

The Google Checkout shopping cart icon will likely be popping up more frequently within text ads when you Google all sorts of subjects that can be bought or sold. However, PayPal’s user base is 100 million strong, while Google Checkout is just getting off its feet. Only PayPal can be used to bid on or list auctions at eBay, which owns the service. And thousands of merchants are already PayPal-enabled, while Google is still building partnerships with sellers. Check out the features at